Kolkata/New Delhi, 17 November 2025: At 80 years young, Rev. Fr. Scaria Nedumattathil SDB continues to add glorious chapters to a lifetime dedicated to the forgotten and the fallen.
The All India Council of Human Rights, Liberties and Social Justice (AICHLS) has unanimously selected him for the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for Prison Reforms with Compassion — the latest in a long line of national and international recognitions for the Founder Director of Don Bosco Prison Ministry (DBPM).
This new honour joins an already illustrious list:
- 2015: Salesian Rector Major Paschal Chávez Award for Innovative Ministry (global Salesian recognition)
- 2022: Felicitated during Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Kolkata
- 2025: Nominated for Lifetime Achievement Award for Prison Reforms with Compassion
What began in 1995 with a single visit to Berhampore Central Correctional Home has, under Fr. Scaria’s quiet yet unstoppable leadership, grown into one of India’s most powerful movements of mercy:
- Vocational training centres inside prisons
- World’s first government-recognized motor driving school within prison walls
- Legal aid, counselling, and post-release rehabilitation that has restored thousands of lives across West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Bihar
Even today, from the Human Resource Development Centre at Dhobasole, West Midnapore — an area once torn by militancy — Fr. Scaria continues to build hope, educate children, and prove that no land or heart is beyond redemption.
The award will be conferred on 10 December 2025 at the 15th International Human Rights Summit & Awards at India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi, on International Human Rights Day.